Tip/Quote of the Day # 980From Facebook fan Joan Dunlap ~ "You must conquer your own fears, lack of knowledge and short-comings before you can even start to help your horse with theirs."Tip/Quote of the Day # 979Think "uphill" in your lengthenings. Yes, the horse should be allowed to lengthen its neck slightly into the lengthening, but you still want to feel like you are on a motorboat - nose up, butt down.Tip/Quote of the Day # 978Remember that even a cow can jump a 3 foot fence from a standstill - if it wants to. So never worry about whether or not your horse has enough scope to do lower level eventing or jumping. The bigger issue is whether or not you can keep him balanced at the canter.Tip/Quote of the Day # 977The smoothest and easiest canter to walk transitions come when the horse can canter at walk speed.Tip/Quote of the Day # 976"When you relax your arms and feel the reins softly you need to feel that your horse wants to step into the contact. If you do not then he is behind your leg and seat." ~ Yvonne BarteauTip/Quote of the Day # 975When doing movements like turn on the haunches, pirouettes, haunches in, and half pass, even the most experienced riders have to remind themselves to sit over their inside seat bone throughout the entire movement. Consciously thinking about stepping into the inside stirrup every couple of strides during these movements is necessary to avoid any tendency of the rider's weight slipping to the outside.Tip/Quote of the Day # 974Quote from Bert de Nemethy ~ "When I think of the rider's aids, I am reminded of an anecdote that is told about one of the world's great pianists, who was asked how difficult it was to learn to play the piano as he did. "It is really not difficult at all," he replied. "You only have to figure out which fingers go on what keys, and for how long. Then you practice for the rest of your life so that you can do it up to tempo." Communicating with the horse is about the same."Tip/Quote of the Day # 973If you don't ride well into the corner, it will have a negative effect on the next movement. The short sides and corners are what set you up for every movement.Tip/Quote of the Day # 972Since many lower level horses anticipate the transition from canter to trot in the Dressage test, it can be a good idea to do a few canter circles when practicing tests at home, instead of just one. This way the horse will not learn that when doing a test he does a quick canter, and then is done. It is also a good idea to canter past the letter that you will be doing the downward transition at in the ring. These measures can help to prevent the very common "falling from canter into trot early" problem.Tip/Quote of the Day # 971Don't use gadgets or your hands to make a "frame", use exercises to change the way the horse carries his body. When he is carrying himself correctly in balance, with his hind legs underneath his body, he will magically become round.Tip/Quote of the Day # 970It can be a clever time to work on the beginning of a piaffe, or "half steps", when you are out hacking and your horse gets a bit excited and "prancy." Take advantage of the moment, to ask them (and allow them) to do what they are offering you in their excitement. And don't forget the reward!Tip/Quote of the Day # 969As you finish a course, ask yourself if you are finishing with the same pace that you started with. If the answer is no… the next question you need to ask yourself is which speed was better for your horse's jumping - the way you started, or the way you finished? Then make sure you use that information on the next course that you jump.Tip/Quote of the Day # 968When you have a green or looky horse, it can be helpful to go a little more slowly on the approach to their fences to let them take it all in. Don't be afraid to come back to the trot if you need to. Rushing them through the approach when they are already rattled will not help them gain in confidence.Tip/Quote of the Day # 967"You can trot and cry at the same time. And if you can’t, this isn’t the sport for you." ~ Kristin CarpenterTip/Quote of the Day # 966From Facebook fan Lee DiGangi ~ "If YOU breathe, your horse will breathe. Especially true with tense mares."Tip/Quote of the Day # 965"Only when the horse is straight, the hind legs can be induced by correct collection to carry more weight and, correspondingly, be gymnasticized by increased flexion. This improves the balance and the suppleness, and it strengthens the haunches for the greater demands to the necessary degree." ~ PodhajskyTip/Quote of the Day # 964Always challenge yourself to use as little hand as possible in riding any exercise. The more freedom your horse has up front, the more expressive his movement will be.Tip/Quote of the Day # 963
"When I think of the rider's aids, I am reminded of an anecdote that is told about one of the world's great pianists, who was asked how difficult it was to learn to play the piano as he did. "It is really not difficult at all," he replied. "You only have to figure out which fingers go on what keys, and for how long. Then you practice for the rest of your life so that you can do it up to tempo." Communicating with the horse is about the same." ~ Bert de Nemethy
Tip/Quote of the Day # 962Every time you change direction, your horse needs to bring his new inside hind leg more under his body to balance. If he doesn't do this, you will feel a loss of balance, and the result will be that he comes off of the aids. This is another example of the fact that you don't fix the problem in the mouth, you fix it in the horse's hind legs.Tip/Quote of the Day # 961If your horse is strung out and on the forehand, they are more likely to slip, trip, stumble, etc. Just one of the many reasons you should strive to keep your horse balanced at all times! Tip/Quote of the Day # 960“I never really work a horse for longer than four or five minutes. I want to take a quick break, and then we go again. Any of you who’ve worked out know how much a break of 30 seconds can help. It gets some oxygen back into the muscles.” ~ Steffen PetersTip/Quote of the Day # 959From member Sharon Fitzgerald ~ "Lengthen the horse's top line so the bottom can engage. Any contracture of the top line will be counterproductive."Tip/Quote of the Day # 958From Facebook fan Barbara Martin ~ "If you don't have ground manners and ground respect, you won't have a completely full and trusting partnership."Tip/Quote of the Day # 957When your elbows leave your sides your shoulders are even more prone to tension.Tip/Quote of the Day # 956“When you get on, you should feel that your [jumping length] stirrups are a little bit short,” he said. “As you warm up, as you come out of the saddle and come forward and jump, you should feel that you’re coming into a more comfortable position. If when you get on, you’re comfortable in your stirrups, they’re invariably too long.” ~ William Fox-PittTip/Quote of the Day # 955Too often I see riders asking their horses to be forward and in front of their leg, and not getting the response they are looking for - yet they still move on to the next thing they had planned! Whether the next thing you plan to do is a jump or a dressage movement, your best bet would be to put that on hold for a moment, and really insist that your horse responds 100% to your leg. You won't get much else done without that quality.Tip/Quote of the Day # 954Always remember that what you do habitually will feel normal to you, whether it is right or wrong.Tip/Quote of the Day # 953"When working on your horse's balance, keep in mind that horses can't be balanced under unbalanced riders. We always need to begin with the education and balance of the rider." ~ Debbie McdonaldTip/Quote of the Day # 952Your weight or seat aid trumps your leg and hand aids at all times. So if you are unconsciously giving conflicting aids with your weight/seat and your legs or hands, your horse will usually not do exactly what you expect him to do.Tip/Quote of the Day # 951You drive your horse heavily into your hands when you lean back even slightly behind the vertical.Tip/Quote of the Day # 950
“I start by stretching the horse and trying to make him relaxed and supple. It’s a bit like gymnastic with a horse, dressage is. You wouldn’t expect a gymnastics person to just go and start their workout; they do a nice stretch in the warm-up first.” ~ Charlotte Dujardin
Tip/Quote of the Day # 949When your horse is impressed by a jump, and gathers itself a bit to look on the approach, you have a free half halt. Do not get caught taking back in this situation, or you may cause your horse to stop. Think "keep the hind legs moving" all the way to the base of the jump to ensure that you maintain sufficient forward energy as the horse looks. Yet don't push them out of balance by trying to run at the jump.Tip/Quote of the Day # 948One of the biggest differences between good riders and the very top riders is the speed of their reactions.Tip/Quote of the Day # 947The horse that wants to fall out on circles should work more often on a square figure than a circle, until the rider has better control of the outside of the horse's body.Tip/Quote of the Day # 946Don't just get a good canter and then forget about it, you need to think about the quality of your canter every stride all the way to every jump.Tip/Quote of the Day # 945 “You don’t go to competitions to see how good you are, you go to show how good you are!” ~ Bruce DavidsonTip/Quote of the Day # 944"Don't jump 4'6" over 2'6"." ~ Jimmy WoffordTip/Quote of the Day # 943When your horse stretches, you cannot follow him with your posture, rounding your shoulders and leaning forward - or you will be encouraging him to fall onto the forehand. Tip/Quote of the Day # 942The horse points his nose at what he wants to see in focus. This is why we want our horse's head and nose UP on the approach to their fences, and why we need to allow them to lower their heads and look at the takeoff of an open ditch or a drop fence.Tip/Quote of the Day # 941What do we want from our horses over fences? Consistency and balance. If we as riders are more consistent and balanced with our own position as we ride a course, we make achieving that with the horse much easier.Tip/Quote of the Day # 940When your horse is spooking, don't stare at whatever it is that they are looking at. Look where you want to go, and don't let any of his antics change your focus. Tip/Quote of the Day # 939One of the biggest reasons riders meet resistance when attempting to control their horse's canter is that they stop following the motion of the horse's head and neck with their elbows.Tip/Quote of the Day # 938There must always be a medium trot or canter within your collected gait. If you feel that you could not simply release your collected trot or canter into a medium gait, then you do not have true collection - you merely have a horse that is going slowly.Tip/Quote of the Day # 937Especially in front of really wide rampy jumps, it is tempting for riders to soften the reins too much, to sort of "help" the horse to go forward. The bigger the jump, and the faster the speed on the approach, the more important it is for the rider to maintain the feel of the horse's mouth in the last stride.Tip/Quote of the Day # 936Riders with short arms need to ride with longer reins.Tip/Quote of the Day # 935"Don't take the tempo down without revving the engine." ~ Chris BartleTip/Quote of the Day # 934"Cross country rides best when you attack it. Don't let IT attack you." ~ Jonathan HollingTip/Quote of the Day # 933Put your leg on just before you start to shorten your reins after the free walk or the stretching trot circle. This way you can ride forward into that shorter rein (as well as asking for bending) even as you are shortening them. The increased activity of the hind legs will lift the horse's head and neck naturally from your stretching position, and that allows you to shorten the reins with minimal fuss. If you start to shorten your reins with your leg off, and your horse will be more likely to hollow his back and resist. Tip/Quote of the Day # 932Always look for the feeling of a shoulder fore positioning in your half pass. This will help to prevent the haunches from leading, or the horse from leaning heavily on the inside shoulder. And it will also help to keep more engagement in the inside hind leg, with more impulsion overall in the movement.Tip/Quote of the Day # 931Prepare for a flying change by making sure that your horse is responding sharply to what will be your new inside leg. Make sure he feels very active and responsive to that aid, while staying loose through his body, before you ask for the change.
